Amid transfer talks, Barcelona need to focus on defense

Barcelona should be careful in not ignoring a shoddy defense

Throughout the last couple of weeks, Barcelona has been linked with a number of attacking players such as Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres and Edinson Cavani. The latter two seem to have the best chances of arriving at the Camp Nou come January.

However, amid all the speculation, there has been very little, if any, talk about a player coming in to improve the defense. The backline is another area of the pitch where Barcelona woefully fall short.

The Catalans are fortunate to be sitting in seventh place, only four points behind Rayo Vallecano for the fourth and final Champions League spot. Despite all that has been said and written about their lack of scoring, they’ve scored 28 times in La Liga — tied for third most with a handful of other teams. Only Real Madrid, 38, and Real Betis, 32, have scored more.

Where we see part of their problem is in goals conceded. They’ve allowed 21 goals which puts them in the middle of the pack in terms of defense.

Far too often Barcelona have been caught on the break and conceded goals an organized defense would have been able to stop. It happened against Elche over the weekend where they allowed two goals in a matter of two minutes and blew a two-goal lead.

Aside from Ronald Araujo, none of the other center-backs or fullbacks provide much confidence when defending. Gerard Pique is getting up there in age and it would not come as a surprise if both Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti are gone by the time the winter transfer window opens.

The spotty defense has been thoroughly exposed in Europe and for some time now. Barcelona has suffered some of their heaviest defeats over the last couple of the seasons and a number of the same defenders who were involved then are still with the club.

In this season’s Champions League, Barcelona conceded nine goals in only six matches.

The financial situation is going to make any potential signing a hassle and it appears they’re ready to commit a significant amount in improving the attack. But they need to do the same with the defense.

That being said, they may have been given a lifeline in the form of Mino Raiola. The super agent has already linked Erling Haaland with Barcelona and has now done the same with Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt.

The former Ajax player was linked with Barcelona before deciding to join the Italian giants. Raiola has come out and said De Ligt is ready for a new adventure which means he could find himself on another team come next season.

This could very well be nothing more than an attempt to start a bidding war for his client but there is no doubt that if he were available and Barcelona could sign him, he would walk in to a starting spot.

The Catalans would study a potential arrival but, according to Sport, Sevilla’s Jules Koundé is another name on the list despite the €80 million price tag.

The club needs to move on from aging players and players who do not have the necessary quality for a club like Barcelona. In theory, should they be successful in moving some of them on, that should create space in the team and free up the wage bill significantly.

But the money needed to sign these types of players is likely to remain a problem. Not to mention the competition they are sure to face.

They also need to sort out the goalkeeping problem and what they’re going to do with Marc-Andre ter Stegen. As it stands, the only players Xavi, and supporters, seem to have any faith in are the aforementioned Araujo and Dani Alves, who can’t play until after the new year.